Best Years
by julia12084
Summary: Ella's senior year of college took a different path when she decided to transfer to her brother's school. Meeting his wide range of new friends kept her on her toes. So did her brother's roommate, who happened to be very cute. College AU Bucky/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, welcome to this story!**

 **It's meant to be fun and lighthearted, something to make you smile. It's rated for language, themes, alcohol and drug mentioning.**

 **The college is not a real college that I could find in my (short) research.**

 **So, please enjoy!**

 **…**

They always say that college is the best time of your life. That you'll have the greatest times, meet your life-long friends, and live the stories that you'll tell for the rest of your life.

They also said college would be hard. Large workloads, no money, trying to balance good grades, work, relationships, and social lives.

Still, most people found a happy medium and managed to work, party, and get decent grades.

So why was Ella so worried?

It wasn't as if she was a freshman and she didn't know the first thing about independence or living on her own. She was twenty-two years old and going into her senior year, just at a new school.

Ella thought it was rather ironic. Usually as one gets older, they move further away from home, but now Ella found herself moving back.

When she graduated high school, Ella was broke and struggling for whatever scholarships she could get her hands on. She ended up with full academic scholarship to a small college that wasn't close to home, but Ella hadn't minded, there was nothing keeping her there at the time. Her brother had enlisted in the army the moment he graduated, and she was on her own.

Their mother and father had died when Ella was fourteen and her brother, Steve, was seventeen. Her father first overseas in the army, her mother not that long later from terminal cancer. They were put into a foster home, but they were lucky. It was a single, older woman who had never had children and decided that she had love and support she was willing to give. She took in both of the siblings, much to their relief. They were worried they would be separated.

The woman's name was Eileen Sanchez. She was originally from Puerto Rico and still spoke with a slight accent. She supported the siblings well, made sure that they were fed and that they did their homework. She even taught Ella Spanish in the four years that Ella lived with her. They were grateful, they had heard the horror stories of the foster system.

Steve left after a year to join the military, which would pay for his schooling. Ella however, devoted herself to high grades to gather whatever scholarships she could. Miss. Sanchez was always there to help.

Ella left for school, and she was only there a month before her brother returned. He ended up going to a college right back in New York.

They didn't see much of each other for a while, both busy with living their own lives. They spent holidays at Miss. Sanchez's apartment, who was always thrilled to see the two of them and find out how they were prospering in their respective lives. Steve had joined the football team at his school, Ella was getting straight A's, Miss Sanchez was very proud.

Ella spent three years at her tiny college, and she enjoyed it for the most part, but she felt something was missing. It just wasn't a perfect fit.

So, she applied as a transfer student to Steve's college, East Brooklyn University. She got in easily, and found herself happy to actually be with her brother again.

She had appreciated being on her own for a while, it was what she had wanted. Ella gained independence which was a necessity in life. She had made friends, had a few boyfriends… it was a good start. She was still in contact with them.

But, this was a new start. The city wasn't new, Ella knew it like the back of her hand. The people would be new, the only person she knew there was her brother. She hadn't met any of his friends, only hearing about them from Steve in tiny stories, but Ella was embarrassed to say she didn't remember any of their names.

She had arrived late afternoon, parking her car in front of her new apartment building which was located just on the edge of campus.

She had answered an ad in the paper for someone looking for a roommate. She was also a student at EBU, another transfer like Ella. According to their limited communications, she had actually just moved to America.

Steve was supposed to meet Ella there to help her carry all her stuff to her room, but he had texted her just as she pulled in and said that practice was running late and that he wouldn't be there for another hour.

Ella let out a groan and hit her forehead on her steering wheel, peeking at the countless boxes in her back seat that were now left for her to carry into the building.

 _God dammit, Steve._

Ella turned her car off, stuck her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, and threw her hair up messily. She grabbed the first box from the back seat, kicked the door shut, and mentally cursed her brother again. He was at least twice as strong as her, he could carry three of her boxes at once and not feel the slightest bit fatigued.

Ella entered the building, only to find that the elevator was out of order. She sighed heavily. At least she was only on the second floor.

As she entered the stairwell, her phone vibrated. She balanced the box precariously in one hand and pulled out her phone. Miss Sanchez was calling her.

Ella answered and put the phone between the side of her face and her shoulder.

"Hola, Señora Sanchez," Ella greeted as she continued up the stairs.

" _Hola, Ella,"_ Miss Sanchez said. She still stressed the L's in her name to stop herself from pronouncing it like the Spanish word, _ella. "Are you there?"_

"Just got here, all safe,"

" _Good, good,"_ Miss Sanchez murmured. " _Your brother with you?"_

"Nope, he flaked out. He said he had practice,"

Miss Sanchez cursed in Spanish. " _He's making you do it on your own?"_

"Yeah, and the elevator is broken!" Ella complained. "But don't worry, I'll guilt trip him into doing something for me,"

" _That's a smart girl_ ," Miss Sanchez praised.

"I'm at my floor," Ella said. "I'll call you later,"

" _Practica tu Español!"_ Miss Sanchez ordered.

" _Todos los dias,"_ Ella said back. "Talk to you later,"

Ella hung up, feeling slightly better after talking to Miss Sanchez. They had three years where it was just her and Ella living together and they had become quite close. Both of them knew Miss Sanchez couldn't replace her mother, but they loved each other still.

She was a big help when it came to Ella's Spanish homework. She had struggled with it before she moved in, but soon became one of the best in her class. She was practically immersed in the language, hearing Miss Sanchez gossip to her friends over the phone, listen to music, and watch TV all in Spanish. Miss Sanchez had been oblivious to how much she was picking up until one day, when Miss Sanchez was complaining that Ella was being especially lazy that week to her friend, Ella bit back that she wasn't lazy, she had too much homework.

Ella smiled fondly at the memory before putting her phone away and opening up the door to the hall with her hip.

She wandered down the hall, counting room numbers. It wasn't an especially fancy building, some of the light were out, the wall paper was peeling in some places, and there were mysterious stains on the ugly carpet, but it was a building inhabited by college students. It was in good shape by that definition.

She was nearing her room, thankfully. Ella finally found her apartment. She tucked her box under her arm and knocked on the door. Her roommate was already there and had her key. Ella only stood there for a moment before the door opened, revealing a pretty, brunette girl. A smile instantly broke out on her face.

"Ella?" she asked.

"That's me," Ella grinned.

"Wanda," the woman said, opening the door further and motioning for her to come inside. "Nice to finally meet you,"

"You too," Ella said, hearing her accent for the first time. It was thick, but she was still clearly understandable. At first, Ella thought she was super tall, but Wanda was just wearing heels. She had an interesting style, consisting of thigh-high socks and a flowy black dress. Her fingers were covered in rings and she had a few silver necklaces dangling down her chest. Ella couldn't have pulled it off, but Wanda made it work.

"I'm actually surprised that you answered an ad from the paper," Wanda stated. "I doubted anyone reads the paper anymore,"

"I'm a bit old-school," Ella shrugged. "Which room is mine?"

"The one on the left," Wanda pointed. "I hope you don't mind,"

"I couldn't care less," Ella said honestly, carrying her box to the room. It was pretty bare, just a mattress, a dresser, and a connecting bathroom. Ella dropped her box on the bed.

"You got to have more than one box," Wanda commented.

"I have an entire car full of boxes," Ella said. "My brother was supposed to come and help me carry them up, but he didn't show and I can only carry one at a time,"

"Your brother lives in the area?"

"He actually goes here," Ella said.

"Oh, mine too!" Wanda said, chuckling at the coincidence. "He's pretty unreliable too, kinda an air-head,"

"Aren't all guys?" Ella laughed.

"True," Wanda nodded. "I'll help you with your stuff,"

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Ella said quickly. "Some of them are really heavy and the elevators broken,"

Wanda cringed. "Yikes… but I really don't mind. It'll be a good workout. We can order pizza after and not feel guilty about eating it all,"

Ella beamed. "Sounds great to me. We can get to know each other,"

So, they began working on the job. Wanda shrugged on a red, leather jacket and followed Ella to her car. They made a few trips before Ella glanced down at Wanda's feet, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Listen," Ella said, panting slightly. She was in good shape but the constant trek up and down the stairs was finally getting to her. "I can walk in heels pretty well, but your feet must be killing you,"

"I think all the nerves in my feet are dead now," Wanda said.

They giggled as they walked into the hall again, heading back in the direction of their shared apartment. Just before they reached their room, the door of their neighbor's apartment cracked open and a red-headed woman popped her head out.

"You guys have been up and down the hall like, eight times," she said. "If you're trying to exercise, there's a gym on the first floor."

"Leave them alone, Nat," another voice spoke up from behind her, a woman with curly dark hair materializing behind her. She opened the door the rest of the way and stood beside her. "You two just moved in, right?"

Ella and Wanda nodded.

"I'm Margaret, but call me Peggy. This is Natasha," the brunette woman said, jerking her head at the shorter girl to the left.

"I'm Ella, this is Wanda,"

"It's nice to meet you," Wanda said.

"Oh look, another foreigner," Natasha said, looking up at Peggy with wide, green eyes. "Peggy's from England, but you almost can't tell anymore, her accents nearly gone,"

Now that Natasha mentioned it, Ella did hear a slight accent carrying in Peggy's voice. It was pleasant to listen to.

"Sorry about the pacing noise," Ella apologized. "I have lots of boxes and my good for nothing brother didn't show to help,"

"Oh, we can help," Peggy offered.

"You really don't need to do that," Ella said, already surprised by the kindness of the three, new woman she had met that day. "The elevator's broken,"

Peggy shrugged. "It usually is. Your legs are gonna be sculpted by the end of the year,"

"I'm down," Natasha said firmly. "As long as you're buying dinner,"

"Pizza sound alright?" Ella asked, raising a brow.

"We'll bring the wine," Peggy grinned. "Now, show us to your car,"

So, Wanda, Ella, Peggy, and Natasha finished carrying the boxes to their new apartment. They were all slightly tired, out of breath, and sticky with a thin layer of sweat. Still, the promise of dinner on Ella and booze on Peggy lifted their spirits.

They all congregated in Ella and Wanda's apartment, sitting on the old futon and arm chair that was provided. As Ella ordered the food, Peggy ran over to her apartment next-door and grabbed two bottles of wine and cheap plastic wine glasses that she had bought at a dollar store.

She carried them over and the four women sat down. Peggy handed out the glasses, which was received by giggles from Ella, who was greatly amused by the plastic glass with a neon pink flamingo on it that looked like it belonged at Hawaiian barbeque. Peggy popped off the cork and poured everyone a generous amount before settling down besides Natasha.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," Peggy announced.

"Thanks," Wanda grinned before taking a sip.

"So, I'm guessing you two are going to EBU?" Natasha asked, cocking a perfectly sculpted brow, which would look imitating if it wasn't for the lime-green wine glass she was sipping out of.

Both of the girls nodded.

"First year here, but we're both seniors," Ella said for the both of them.

"Us too," Natasha said.

"What are your majors?" Peggy asked.

"Psychology," Wanda announced.

"Criminology," Ella told them. "What about you guys?"

"Political Science," Peggy said.

"International Relations," Natasha finished.

Ella was impressed. All four of the women in that room were working on difficult majors. She knew that EBU was an academically challenging school, but Ella didn't want to feel as though she was on the bottom of the heap. Still, she wasn't getting that feel here. She liked seeing the other women stepping up into the more challenging fields.

"Where are you from?" Peggy questioned Wanda.

"Sokovia," Wanda said. "Moved here for better schooling. Where in England are you from?"

"London," Peggy shrugged as if it was nothing. She turned to Ella, brushing her dark hair behind her shoulder. "What about you?"

Ella shrugged sheepishly. "Here?" she laughed. "I grew up in Brooklyn, moved to D.C. for a bit, moved back,"

"What made you move back?" asked Natasha.

"I missed it… and my brother goes here and I haven't been spending as much time with him as I should,"

"Most younger sisters would be happy to be away from their brothers for a bit," Peggy commented.

Ella made a face. "Yeah, but he's the only family I got. Our parents died when we were teens,"

"I'm so sorry," Peggy said, brows knitting together.

Wanda glanced at the girl beside her, lips set crookedly. "My parents died too. I know how it feels,"

Ella sent a tight-lipped smile to Wanda, grateful that there was another who she can relate to. It seemed that she and Wanda had a lot in common, and the fate that was the newspaper ad brought them together.

"What's your brother's name?" Natasha asked, trying to delicately shift the topic of conversation to a less depressing topic. "Maybe we know him,"

"Steve," Ella answered.

Natasha and Peggy both narrowed their eyes slightly at Ella, as if they were studying her. They then met the other's gaze, almost as if they were thinking the same thing. Ella looked to Wanda to see if she was missing something, but she seemed just as clueless.

"You don't think-?" Natasha started.

"They look similar," Peggy interjected.

"He did mention something about a sister," Natasha concurred.

Both pairs of eyes snapped back towards Ella.

"What's your last name?" Peggy asked.

"Rogers…" Ella said slowly, almost worried about what that answer would bring.

The women's heads instantly whipped towards one another, eyes wide in surprise before they broke out into raucous laughter. Ella and Wanda watched them with confusion. They were near hysterics, faces red as they leaned on one another for support. Natasha accidently sloshed some wine on the front of her shirt.

"I can't fucking believe it," Natasha wheezed.

"You know him?" Ella guessed from their reactions.

Peggy nodded, relaxing enough to get at least a few words out. "Yeah, we're good friends, actually," she placed her wineglass on the table and grabbed her cell phone from her back pocket, poking at the screen for a few moments before she stood from the couch, crossed the rooms, and squeezed herself next to Ella before holding up the camera. "Smile!"

All Ella could do was furrow her brows as Peggy took a quick picture. The woman went back to Natasha as she sent the photo to Steve.

 _Guess who's our new neighbor!_

It was only a few more moments before she got the response.

 _Oh, no._

And then-

 _I'm omw over._

"He's on his way over," Peggy announced.

"Of course he shows up when the works done," Ella mumbled irritably.

"Oh, man," Natasha breathed, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "This is gonna be a fun year. He's going to hate that we live right next to each other,"

"Why?" asked Wanda.

"Well, we're not always model citizens," said Peggy. "We get our work done, we get good grades-"

"But we don't have sticks up our asses," Natasha finished. "We… know how to have fun. Fun that an older brother wouldn't want his baby sister doing,"

"Well, Steve can shut his mouth because he can't tell me what to do," Ella said, sipping her wine and not caring that she sounded like a child.

"That's what I like to hear," Peggy praised.

The pizza arrived in another fifteen minutes. As the girls ate, Natasha and Peggy told them about campus life, the best bars, the frats to avoid. It was all very good, very important information. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door.

Ella sprung up from her seat and padded across the room, peeking through the peep hole to find her brother lingering outside the door, hands shoved in his pockets. Ella unlocked it and opened it only a crack, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at her brother sternly.

Ella was silent for a beat. "I had to carry all those boxes up those stairs…"

Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll make it up to you," he said before looking up with exasperation. "Can I at least get a hello?"

Ella rolled her eyes and hugged her brother in greeting. It had been a while since they had last seen each other and she had really missed him. They only had a moment before Natasha and Peggy filled the door way, tipsy grins on their faces.

"We're best friends now," Natasha said. "We're gonna take her bar hopping this weekend,"

"Jesus…" Steve sighed, shaking his head. "Out of every apartment in this building…"

"Your wonderful baby sister got the luck of being next to us!" Peggy said, throwing an arm over Ella's shoulder. "Don't worry, we're gonna take good care of her,"

"You two better keep her out of trouble," Steve warned.

"If I remember correctly, you were always the trouble-maker," said Ella with a smirk.

They laughed and Steve entered the apartment. Ella allowed him a piece or two of the pizza as she introduced him to Wanda and they all sat around. Instantly, she liked the vibe of Steve with Peggy and Natasha. She could tell they got along well and had good chemistry. She could tell that Steve was especially close with Peggy, and the longer she studied their interactions, the more Ella thought her brother might have a slight crush on the women.

Ella felt as though this would be a good year.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few days of settling in which mostly consisted of unpacking and putting together a complicated dresser, Ella got her class schedule. She compared it with Wanda, and they had economics together but that was it. Ella saw it as an opportunity to meet new people.

Natasha and Peggy would pop in from time to time to talk and see if they needed help with anything, but they were good for the most part. Ella and Wanda went on a joint trip to the supermarket that was closest to stock up on food for their fridge and cabinets, as well as some beer, Wanda's favorite vodka, and the cheapest bottle of wine with the highest alcohol concentration they could find. They made sure they were well supplied with coffee, some teas that Wanda was fond of, a package of diet coke, and other necessities.

To ensure Steve paid the price for skipping out on moving day, she forced him to come along and carry up all the bags as well as unpacking them while Ella and Wanda sat on the couch, instructing him where to put everything.

Ella's first class was in the afternoon on Monday.

She had finished putting together her room, which didn't end up looking like anything special. She had put a blue duvet on her bed which she hardly ever bothered to make, a couple photos on her dresser, clock and speaker on her bedside table, and a shelf for her books and records.

Her bathroom, however, was organized chaos. She had makeup strewn over the counter, brush, toothbrush and paste, tweezers, etc. Sometimes, she shocked herself that she managed to use all of these items.

She scrubbed her face with cleanser, hair tied up in a messy bun to keep it out of the suds on her cheeks. She swayed lightly to the music she had playing as she went through her morning routine.

She didn't hear the knock on the door, which Wanda answered, allowing Natasha in, who was looking to borrow some liquid eyeliner. Wanda didn't have any, but directed her towards Ella, who had an impressive array of makeup at her disposal.

Natasha entered Ella's room, taking it all in. Nothing fancy, but comfortable. She quickly noted the record machine on a small table.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were old-fashioned," Natasha commented.

Ella peeked out her bathroom door, dabbing her damp face with a rag. She sent Natasha a quick grin in greeting. "It was my dad's," she explained. "He had a knack for old things,"

Natasha let her curiosity drive her as she looked at the photos Ella had displayed. One of them was of her, Steve, and an older Hispanic woman (their foster parent if Natasha wasn't mistaken), at Ella's high school graduation. Ella still looked like the pretty girl she was now, face a bit rounder, but in this picture, had a smile that almost looked too big for her face. The royal blue cap and gown matched her eyes. Steve wore his army slacks, but seemed very proud of his little sister.

The next picture was of Ella was she was very young, she was missing a front tooth and her hair was a mess. She was sitting beside a skinny, almost describable stick-like, kid.

"Who's this?" Natasha asked, picking up the frame and flashing it towards the girl.

Ella glanced at the photo. "Oh, that's Steve,"

"What?!" Natasha exclaimed, looking back at the picture with wide, surprised eyes. There was no way the skinny kid in the photo was Steven Rogers, the tall hunk that she now knew. "You're lying,"

Ella chuckled. "I'm not. Steve used to be a toothpick,"

Natasha giggled to herself as she pulled her phone out and snapped a photo of the picture. "This is going on twitter,"

"So, did you come here just for blackmail against my brother?" Ella asked as she rubbed in some moisturizer.

Natasha shook her head and placed the frame down. "I was wondering if you have some eyeliner?"

"Liquid or pencil?"

"Liquid," Natasha said, entering Ella's messy bathroom.

"Felt-tip or traditional?"

"Traditional,"

"Ambitious," Ella commented, digging through her makeup bag for the tiny bottle. She stepped to her right and made room for Natasha in the mirror.

"Thanks," Natasha said, unscrewing the bottle and leaning forward slightly towards the mirror and making her eyes wide. With a steady hand, she began applying it. "You nervous for your first day?"

Ella made a face as she coated her lashes in some mascara. "Hardly. Just gonna go to my classes, hope I don't get lost and whatever,"

"You don't know anybody, you can still be nervous," Natasha murmured, making a delicate wing.

"I can make new friends, I'm very likeable you know," Ella commented. "I mean, I'm so likeable, I got three practically strangers to help me haul my stuff to my room,"

Natasha chuckled. "Well, with that kind of confidence, who wouldn't want to be friend with you?"

Ella grinned. "I'm glad we're on the same page,"

They were silent for a few more moments as the two girls finished their makeup. Natasha didn't need much more time, closing the bottle the placing it in Ella's makeup bag.

"All done," Nat announced, turning to Ella to show her handiwork.

Ella glanced at the girl's eyes, impressed. They were perfect. "That has to be the cleanest wings I've ever seen,"

"It's my specialty," Natasha shrugged. "Have fun in your classes, drinks when you get home,"

"Sounds like a plan," Ella said as Natasha left the bathroom. "See you later,"

…

Ella and Wanda walked to their classes in the morning. Wanda was dressed in a maroon turtleneck, black jeans, and heeled booties. Ella felt a little self-conscious about her over-sized t-shirt and capri leggings, but she wouldn't let it bother her. She just saw a girl walk by in pajama pants and a sports bra.

The pair eventually parted ways and went to where their respective classes lay. Ella had an idea of where her class was, but had to check the walls for the specific class numbers. It did not take her long to find it. The double doors were already propped open and the lecture hall was filling steadily with students. Ella went with the flow into the hall, scanning the seats and looking for a spot that suited her needs. She decided to sit somewhere in the middle, not too close to the front as to be picked on but not too far back to make it seem like she didn't care.

She slid into a seat beside a girl with caramel colored skin and hair half put up in a bun, drinking out of opaque plastic water bottle. As Ella settled down, the girl glanced at her, raising a brow.

"I don't think I've seen you here before," she stated.

"First year," Ella explained, glancing at the bottle the girl had in her hand as a familiar smell wafted from it. "Is… is that wine?"

The girl nodded. "Want some?"

Ella raised a brow but shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I only day drink on the weekends,"

"Lightweight?"

Ella scoffed. "Hardly,"

The girl snorted. "I like your attitude," she said, before sticking out a hand. "I'm Val,"

Ella firmly shook her hand. "Ella. Nice to meet you,"

"Like wise," Val said. "I'll have to see it to believe you're a heavyweight. You're so… small,"

From what Ella could tell, Val was shorter than her, but Ella was more slight. Although Val was short, she seemed to be a tiny powerhouse and wouldn't put it past her to knock somebody out if need be.

"Oh, I'll prove it… eventually," Ella said. "Maybe not on the first day of classes,"

Val shrugged. "I get it." She grabbed her bottle, and tipped it back the rest of the way, gulping the last mouthfuls down. "I'm gonna go fill this up with water now, gotta balance it with hydration. Save my seat!"

With that, Val sprung up and quickly headed towards the water fountains just outside the lecture hall. Ella shook her head softly, amused at the new girl.

Ella reached into her backpack and pulled out her notebook and a pen, watching as the seats began to fill even more. It was getting close to the start.

Ella decided to pass the time by pulling out her phone and checking her notifications. There was a few messages on snapchat from the group that Peggy made that consisted of herself, Nat, Wanda, and Ella. Most of the pictures sent was of their faces from terrible, unflattering angles. Peggy sent an especially horrendous one where she had a bright green face mask on, which Natasha had screenshotted.

Ella snapped a picture of her face.

 _The girl sitting next to me in economics has a water bottle full of wine_

She sent the message, and it wasn't much longer until there was a response from Peggy, a picture with a raised brow.

 _Is her name Val?_

Ella was surprised by how quickly she could figure that out.

 _Yeah_

Natasha responded this time.

 _Yup. We all know her. She's a fucking riot, literally the best_

Ella chuckled at the response, but before she could send another response, someone cleared their throat to her right.

"Is someone sitting here?"

Ella glanced up, seeing a tall guy standing there. He had shaggy hair tucked behind his ears and stubble growing over a square jaw. He had light blue eyes, looking at her expectantly.

And Ella found him _very_ cute.

Her demeanor shifted slightly, lips curling coyly, tapping her bottom lip with the end of her pen. "You are,"

He seemed to enjoy that response greatly, plopping down beside the girl who had caught his eye. He hadn't seen her before, meaning she was new. She was cute.

"This your first year here?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. He was just trying to start up a conversation.

"Mhm," she hummed. "I'm Ella,"

"Nice name," he complemented. "Bucky," he said, as a means of introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you," Ella said.

Before Bucky could respond, the professor entered and a hush settled over the classroom. Val slipped back into her sit beside Ella, holding up her bottle now filled with water and winking at her. Ella hid a laugh behind her hand and shook her head.

The professor began droning on about the syllabus that was currently being handed out. From beside Ella, Bucky leaned in close.

"Can I borrow a pen?"

Ella raised a brow and looked at him. "First day of class and you don't have a pen?"

He sent her a sly smirk. "I just needed an excuse to talk to you… but also, I actually don't have one,"

Ella bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She reached into her bag and grabbed another pen, handing it to Bucky. "I want this back,"

"You have my word,"

The rest of the class was pretty dull, mostly just the professor, who was older than balls, just reading the syllabus aloud and clarifying anything that may be ambiguous. About halfway through, Ella was wishing that she had taken Val's offer for the wine.

She tried to pay attention, but would get distracted by glance to her left every once in a while towards Bucky, who would somehow notice that she was staring and catch her eye with a smirk.

He was cute, there was no denying that, and he did seem interested in her. The problem was that Ella didn't know enough about him to decide if she should continue. This guy could easily be a womanizer and saw Ella as another conquest. She had known plenty of guys like that who had tried to woo her, but she generally turned them down. At times, if she knew the guy well enough and were friendly and knew they would still be able to be on good terms with them after, she would sleep with them, but it was rare. Still, it wasn't as though Ella was alone all the time, she had plenty of boyfriends. She simply preferred some commitment.

She would have to ask Nat and Peggy about them. She was sure they would have all the details and dirt on nearly everyone at EBU. Then, she would consider it. Besides, it was only her first day here. She shouldn't be jumping at the first opportunity that presents itself.

Ella managed to get through the rest of the class. The professor was the first out the door, then the students stood, talking amongst themselves as they slowly milled towards the exit.

Ella turned towards Bucky and held a hand out. "My pen, please,"

Bucky raised a brow and held the pen between his fingers, dangling it above Ella's waiting hand. "I'll give it back in exchange for your number,"

Ella pursed her lips. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't part of the deal,"

Bucky wrapped his hand around the pen. "I guess I'm holding your pen for hostage then,"

Ella rolled her eyes playfully and sighed. "Well, I _really_ do like that pen."

He seemed pleased by that, grabbing his phone from his back pocket while still holding onto the pen with another. He waited patiently as Ella read off her number for him, and the minute he had it saved, finally returned Ella's pen.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Bucky said. "Where you heading now?"

Ella thought for a moment. "Well, my next class isn't for about another hour, so probably to get something to eat,"

"Let me walk you," he offered, already following her as she headed out of the class.

"That's okay," Ella said.

Bucky seemed confused by the rejection. "Is there a reason?"

"Well, I don't really know you yet and I haven't formed an opinion," Ella said honestly.

"Well, how are you going to get to know me if you won't hang out with me?"

"Observation and time," said the girl.

"Patient," said Bucky. "I like that,"

Ella attempted to hide her amusement as they walked outside into the sunlight. It was a beautiful day outside. Ella forgot how much she missed New York. She shut her eyes softly and tilted her face towards the sun in contentment. She only took a moment before she snapped back to reality.

The campus was bustling with students, full of life. Everywhere she looked she saw something new or interesting to observe. This campus was bigger than her last school, she liked the feel of it.

There was a group of guys handing out brightly colored fliers. As she and Bucky walked past, one of them came towards them, well, towards Ella. He was tall with dark hair and wore a black polo.

"Party at Sigma Chi on Friday," he said to Ella, handing her a flier.

"Thanks," Ella said, glancing at the lazily-made flier that looked like it had been finished in five minutes.

The guy who gave Ella the flier looked past the girl at Bucky, his face changing and becoming slightly sour.

"Barnes," the man said coolly.

"Rumlow," Bucky returned, with just as much frost tinging his voice.

Ella sense that there was tension between the two, but refrained from commenting on it. She simple chewed on the inside of her cheek.

The other man, Rumlow, looked away from Bucky back towards Ella. "You'll be there?"

"I'll think about it," Ella said, continuing on her way.

Still, Bucky was at her side.

"I sensed some hidden tension there," Ella teased.

"That guy is a prick," Bucky complained.

"Sure he is," Ella said.

"You don't believe me?" questioned Bucky, furrowing his brows at the girl.

"I don't know him, but I also don't know you," Ella told him. "Either of you can be a prick and I wouldn't know,"

"Okay, but his name is Brock," Bucky defended. "Which is literally the most douche-y name ever. It fits,"

Ella snorted at his joke. "I will take your reasoning into consideration,"

"Hey, heavyweight!" someone called from behind them. Ella turned and found Val running towards them with a matching blue flier. She came up beside Ella and nudge her with her shoulder, a bit roughly. "I'm expecting to see you there and prove yourself. They're idiots but they throw the best parties. You good a beer pong?"

"The best," Ella answered.

"Then you're my partner on Friday," Val stated, which wasn't a request. "See you there… you too, Barnes."

Val took off through the campus, leaving Ella and Bucky watching her with puzzled but amused expression.

"I told you they were pricks…" Bucky said, using Val's statement as evidence.

"Well, I guess I'll find out on Friday," Ella said as she began to wander away. "I'll see you later, Bucky!"

Bucky watched as the girl made her way down the campus, finding that he had already taken a liking to her, and he didn't even know her last name. He had grown nearly bored with campus life, he felt that he needed a change in pace. Already, in a short period of time, he liked the way she worked.

Ella.

He'd see her again soon.

A **/N:**

 **Hope you guys liked this chapter!**

 **And in case anyone didn't catch it, Val is supposed to be Valkyrie from Ragnarok. I really liked her character.**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Ella and Wanda had their last class of the day together. It wasn't anything too exciting, but none of the classes were that day. Syllabus week was the worst.

They sat in the middle of the rows again, both talking about their days so far. Ella told her more about Val, the cute guy she talked to, and the party which Wanda also got an invite to.

Eventually, someone sat beside Wanda. He was blond with messy hair and thin, wire glasses. He wore a dark red cardigan and had a bit of a nerdy cute look to him. Ella saw Wanda's eyes linger on him for a few moments.

Just as the man sat down, he accidently knocked Wanda's water bottle off the arm of the seats between them. It was capped so it didn't spill, lucky for them.

"So sorry," the man said automatically.

Both Wanda and the man reached down at the same time the pick it up, accidently bumping heads, not hard enough to actually hurt them. They both chuckled and touched where their foreheads collided, looking up at one another.

"Sorry," Wanda murmured again. Ella swore she saw her cheeks blush slightly.

The man picked up the water bottle and handed it back to Wanda. "Here,"

"Thanks," Wanda said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm Wanda, this is Ella."

"Vision," the man said.

"Vision?" Ella repeated, raising a brow. "That's your first name?"

"Last name, actually," he said. Ella could hear a British accent, more than Peggy's. "It's usually what I go by,"

"Don't like your first name?"

Vision shrugged. "It's kinda dorky,"

He hadn't been planning on revealing his name, but he saw both girls looking at him expectantly. He gave a small sigh and hung his head.

"Jarvis,"

Ella had never met anyone with that name, but he was right, Vision did sound better.

"Nice to meet you," Wanda said.

Ella could tell that Wanda was interested in him. She could read her body language like a book. Ella would tease her about it later.

They managed to get through the class. Ella and Wanda would whisper to each other every once in a while, soft enough so that no one could hear them. It was the only way they could get through the mind-numbing lecture.

Thankfully, it finally ended. They packed up their stuff, Wanda said a goodbye to Vision, who kinda looked confused about getting the attention of a pretty girl like Wanda. Ella waited patiently as they said their farewells before she and Wanda headed on back to their apartment.

The temperature had dropped outside a bit, the sun beginning its descent downwards. Ella poked fun at Wanda a bit about Vision, but only just enough to make the girl flush deeply.

They entered their building, the elevator was broken again, so they climbed the stairs.

"Peggy and Nat said they were coming over later," Ella explained as she unlocked their door. "It probably won't be long-"

As Ella opened the door, she discovered that they were already there, sitting on their couch with Steve.

Ella blinked in confusion. "How the hell did you guys get in here?" she asked, shutting the door and throwing her stuff on the counter.

"Nat knows how to pick locks," Peggy explained casually.

"You picked our lock?" Wanda questioned.

"Yes I did," Nat said. "Now come tell us about your first day!"

"I feel like a proud mum," Peggy grinned.

Ella rolled her eyes. "I'll talk from the kitchen. I gotta make dinner,"

"What are you making?" Steve asked. He knew his sister was a good cook.

"Some pasta," Ella explained, digging through the cabinets. She would make a tomato sauce that she found online. Quick, easy, and tasty. She could make enough for all of them.

"So, back to our main question… how was your day?"

"Fine," Ella shrugged, grabbing a two boxes of pasta.

"Kinda boring," Wanda said.

"Meet anybody new?"

"Val," said Ella, laughing slightly when thinking about the girl.

There was a similar reaction among the people in the room. It seemed the girl was well-known for her antics.

"She's insane," Steve said, dragging a hand down his face. "It's even worse when she's with Thor…"

"Who?" Wanda asked.

"He's on the football team with Steve," Nat explained. "He's childhood friends with Val. It's absolutely amazing that they are both alive. I'm pretty sure they're indestructible,"

"She's roped me into being her beer pong partner at a party," Ella explained as she put some pots on the stove.

"What party?"

"At Sigma Chi on Friday," Wanda told them.

There were collective groans from all Steve, Nat, and Peggy.

"God, I hate them," Nat said dramatically, looking up at the ceiling.

"What is so bad about them?" Ella asked, genuinely curious considering this was the second time she had heard that statement that day.

"They're like the worst of the worst frat boys," Peggy told them. "Just… so obnoxious."

"They do throw good parties, though," Peggy chimed in. "And we have been crashing them recently because they're always so big we don't get noticed. Word of advice, just avoid this idiot named Rumlow,"

"Oh," Ella said, making a face. "I met him today,"

"What did he say to you?"

"He just invited me to the party," Ella said.

"He either has no idea who you are or knows exactly who you are," Peggy said.

"What?"

"Listen, we don't like him," Nat said, motioning to herself and Peggy. "But he and Steve _hate_ each other."

"Why?" Ella asked, raising a brow.

"I beat him for his position on the football team," Steve explained, rather quickly.

"Yeah, and then Rumlow got drunk and swung at him and they got in a fist fight," Peggy added.

"Peg!" Steve said in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Steve?" Ella asked, slamming her hands down on the counter and looking at her brother incredulously. "I thought you were past all these street brawls!"

"Past?" repeated Wanda in curiosity.

"When we were kids, he would get into fist fights all the time," Ella explained. "He would have bloody noses and knuckles and black eyes that would last for a week,"

"It was one time, and I didn't start it," Steve defended himself.

Ella rolled her eyes and went back to cooking.

"If he even looks at you again, I'll rip his arms out of his sockets," Steve warned.

"May I remind you that I am a grown woman and can do my own ripping out of sockets," Ella chimed, pouring olive oil onto the pan and tossing in some chopped garlic.

Nat then gracefully changed the topic before the siblings ended up brawling in the kitchen, which she actually would find humorous one day, but she would save it for later. She began asking about the classes, the teachers, and so on. All the while, the smell from the kitchen was growing stronger and it was absolutely wonderful. Everyone's stomachs began to rumble.

"Please tell me it's almost done," Peggy groaned as she inhaled the smell of fresh, sweet tomatoes.

"It's done!" Ella called as she strained the cooked pasta, the steam rising into her face. She put the pasta into the largest bowl they had, dumped the sauce over it and mixed it all together.

She turned around only to find that a small line had formed behind her, plates in hand. Ella shook her head softly and stepped aside, allowing them to fill up.

Ella had ensured that she made enough to feed them all, which was a lot because Steve was like a bottomless pit. She allowed her friends to get their food first and then got her own. They didn't have enough chairs at the kitchen table, if they could even call it that, so they sat around on the couches and armchairs.

Ella received plenty of praises from her friends as they tucked in, making her smile. She was glad that she could make them happy.

"Meet anyone else today?" Nat asked as she slurped down some noodles. "We might know them,"

As Wanda mentioned Vision, Ella thought about Bucky. It seemed like Nat and Peggy knew everybody and their entire lives. They were like a more detailed version of Facebook or something. Ella had a feeling that they probably knew Bucky, but she didn't want to ask them. She wanted to find everything out on her own, without someone else's opinion in the back of her mind.

So, Ella ate her pasta quietly, listening as the girls gossiped and Steve sat back and simply watched Peggy. Ella could tell he was smitten with her, but he would tease him about it later.

For now, she just wanted to get through the week.

…

It was a countdown to Friday. Ella and Wanda had already talked to Nat and Peggy and decided that they were going to go to the party at Sigma Chi. Nat and Peggy planned on introducing the two new girls to the rest of their friend group, who were all planning on going. It consisted mostly of guys from the football team. Ella was looking forward to meeting her brother's friends after hearing of them for so long.

The girls got ready in Ella and Wanda's apartment. Ella had a knack for makeup and was happy to share with the other girls. They all managed to cram into the mirror in Ella's bathroom. Natasha had connected to a Bluetooth speaker and was playing a mix of music for them to get ready to.

"Is Clint gonna be there?" Peggy asked Nat.

"Probably," Nat replied, applying her mascara.

"Who's Clint?" Wanda question.

"Nat's boyfriend, but not boyfriend," Peggy answered, which got her a sharp elbow in the ribs from Nat. "It's like, they both like each other, and they've hooked up, but they won't put a label on it!"

"That's rich coming from the girl who's been pining over Steve for like, three years," Nat murmured.

"You like Steve?" Ella asked, peeking over at her.

There was a slight flush to Peggy's cheeks. She hadn't intended on telling Ella this just yet, considering she's his sister. "I mean…"

"Because he obviously likes you too," Ella said.

"Really?" Peggy asked, raising a brow. "He hasn't made any moves,"

Ella snorted. "Yeah, because it's _Steve_. He doesn't really know how to talk to girls,"

"How?" Wanda asked, filling in her brows. "He's like, six foot four of good looks and kindness,"

"Well, he used to be like, five foot four of rage and awkwardness," said Ella with a tiny shrug. "He just never really learned how to behave like a tall, attractive person… but I can tell he does like you, Peg. He just doesn't have the words to say it,"

Peggy absorbed this new information, wondering how she might proceed in the future now that she knew this.

The girls continued to get ready, applying the finishing touches of mascara, lipstick, and highlighter until they were all satisfied with their looks. Nat told the girls to huddle in close in the mirror while she took a picture for her snapchat. It turned out cute, the girls all dressed in their party clothes.

Nat wore a leather jacket with a bandeau and leggings, Peggy donned a red shirt with a swooping neckline that drew all eyes to her cleavage, Wanda wore a flowing black dress with boots, and Ella wore a navy blue halter top with ripped jeans. They all looked hot and were well-aware of it.

They laid out some ground rule, which were mostly the basic rules for any girls going to a party.

1) Keep an eye on one another

2) Don't leave your drink unattended. If you take your eyes off of it for a moment, its dead to you.

3) If you end up going home with someone, tell one of the other girls their name and vague location, just in case the worse was to happen.

Those were the main three rules, with a few minor ones peppered in. Once those were put into place, they went on their way.

The girls walked. It was only about a ten minute walk and the night was beautiful, and they wouldn't need to spend the money on the Uber.

They giggled and gossiped as they walked through campus with Peggy and Nat leading the way.

They could hear the party before they could see it. The loud music grew steadily louder the closer they got. They could hear shouts, cheers, and chants in the night air which only made the girls pick up their pace, wanting to be part of the fun as soon as possible.

They rounded the corner and laid eyes on the house. It was surrounded by people with empty bottles and red solo cups littering the ground. There were already people shit-faced, running hand and hand to go hook up or passed out on the grass, face towards the clear, night sky.

They waked on to the rickety porch towards the door where two guys stood. They seemed to recognize Nat and Peggy quickly.

"Look who actually showed up!" one of them crooned to Nat.

"Don't get your hope up," Nat said. "I'm here for the free booze,"

The two guys rolled their eyes and looked past Nat and Peggy towards Ella and Wanda, brows raising in interest.

"Hello new girls!" the taller of the two said.

"They are way out of your league," Peggy called.

Ella hid a laugh behind her hand and brushed past the guys while Wanda gave a tiny, unapologetic shrug. With that, they were in.

It was warmer inside, almost every inch filled with bodies. There were large speakers in the corner blasting rap music with a small huddle of dancers in front of it. There was a table covered with booze against the wall with a steady stream of people visiting it.

There were people chatting against the walls, people making out on the couch, a group of guys dangling their friend over the railing of the stairwell. There was activity everywhere they looked.

"Okay, the guys should be here soon," Peggy said over the beat of the music and flood of voices. "Let's get drinks,"

Nat expertly mixed all the girls some drinks, none of them questioning what she concocted. They clinked together their plastic glassed and tipped their cups back.

They weren't there for more than five minutes before someone burst into their small circle.

"Hey, guys," Val grinned, a full cup of what smelled like pure alcohol in her hand. Her hair was pulled back in a very neat French brain and she donned a backless top which displayed the tattoo of wings on her shoulders.

"Hey," everyone greeted.

"I was wondering when you would get here, heavyweight!" Val said to Ella. "I was waiting for my beer-pong partner… unless you were all talk,"

"Don't insult me like that!" Ella said.

Val smiled widely before reaching out and grabbing Ella's free hand. "Good! Then we have next game,"

She began to drag Ella away from her friends, and the small girl was surprisingly strong, leaving Ella to shrug towards her friends, who laughed and waved her away to have fun.

There was currently a game in session and Val dropped Ella for a moment to go muscle her way into playing the next round. Ella watching in amusement as the girl talked to a tall, lanky guy. She couldn't hear a word she was saying, but Val's facial expressions were enough to entertain Ella.

She wasn't on her own for very long before someone was at her side.

"Hey,"

Ella looked to her left and found Bucky standing beside her. He wore a button down with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and his hair tied at the nape of his neck. Ella face broke out into a wide smile, genuinely happy to see him.

"Hey to you,"

She had seen him around a bit that week, but not too often. He had mentioned that he was going to be here but she didn't know when she would see him. She had managed to not ask Peggy or Nat about him all week although she would admit she had been tempted at times. Still, the mystery always made it fun.

"What's a girl like you doing standing around on your own?" he asked, taking a sip out of the bottle of beer in his hand.

Ella nodded to Val. "I got next game,"

"Oh, she was serious," Bucky said, pressing his lips together into a tight line as he watched Val. "I sincerely hope you can actually keep up with her because she is a bottomless pit,"

"I'm sure I can hold my own," Ella said. "I was reigning champ at my old school,"

"Well, then this will be a game that I'm gonna have to watch,"

"I'm expecting your full support and undivided attention," Ella smiled.

"Now that you've said it, I definitely will," Bucky said.

Ella gazed at him. She thought he was _really_ cute and super charming. She wasn't getting any bad vibes from him, only a small, growing attraction. He seemed to be a good guy and Ella would like to get to know him better.

"So, Ella," Bucky said, shoving a hand into his jean pockets. "You don't happen to have a boyfriend or anything, would you?"

Ella raised a brow. "What's it to you?" she asked playfully, turning towards him.

"Oh, I'm just asking for a friend," he said.

Ella let out a tiny laugh. "Well, you can tell your friend that I'm currently on the market,"

"I think my friend will be happy to hear that,"

They hadn't noticed that they had grown a bit closer together in the short time that they were talking, their shoulders nearly touching one another's. The corners of Ella's lips were curved upwards enticingly as if daring Bucky to pursue her further. He opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted to dance after she finished her game of beer-pong, but he was interrupted.

"Hey, Ella,"

Both of their heads whipped towards the source of the voice and found Steve. He looked back and forth from Ella and Bucky before seemingly looking pleased.

"Oh, fantastic. You two have met,"

Ella furrowed her brows, head tilting to the side. She wasn't sure what her brother was talking about.

"Are you two friends?" Ella asked.

"We're roommates," Bucky answered. "How do you two know each other?"

Ella's eyes grew wide as she looked back and forth from the two guys. Bucky still seemed to be a bit confused as to how Ella knew Steve.

"I'm his sister," Ella said, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

Bucky's lips parted in surprise, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable and a bit stupid. How the hell didn't he know she was Steve's sister? Now as they stood beside one another, the resemblances were clear. Same eyes, same hair color… it was obvious! How could he have been flirting with her? Steve was his best friend, and he was pretty sure hooking up with your best friend's sister was a big no-no. But, to be fair, he could tell that the girl had been equally as clueless and it made him feel a bit better to know that she had been interested as well for a time being, but not so much anymore.

"Yeah, I had no idea you guys were roommates," Ella laughed. "We have economics together,"

"Oh, well it's great that you have met already," Steve said, oblivious of the situation that he had just interrupted and made awkward. "Let me introduce you to the rest of the guys,"

"Yes, please," Ella said, taking a deep gulp of her drink as if it would make her less uncomfortable. She would just try to forget that this whole situation happened.

Steve waved over a group of guys who arrived in a group.

"Guys, this is my sister, Ella," Steve introduced.

There was a chorus of hellos from the group of guys, who were all tall and athletic. Ella gave a small wave in return. They then greeted Bucky, slapping hands an bumping shoulders in typical guy fashion.

"They're all on the team with me, Bucky too," Steve explained before he began introducing them all.

First, there was Sam Wilson, a charmingly funny guy who was a wide receiver. Ella instantly liked him and could tell they were going to get along well.

Next, there was Thor, who was Val's friend if Ella remember correctly. He was a mountain of a man with long, blonde hair and a scruffy beard. He was also very attractive. He was a fullback.

Then, there was Clint Barton, the guy that Natasha was kinda seeing, kinda not seeing. He had a dry sense of humor and was a kicker on the team. Apparently, he couldn't miss.

"And what do you play, Bucky?" Ella asked, more serious and less flirty this time.

"Running back," he explained, matching her level of familiarity.

Ella nodded as she tried to remember all this new information. Before anyone could say anything else, Val came barreling into their circle, making a beeline for Thor.

"Hey!" she said loudly over the music, roughly punching him in the arm, which looked comical because of their size difference, but Ella was sure she could pack a punch.

"Hey," said Thor back, lightly shoving her.

"You wanna play me and Ella in beer-pong?" Val shouted over the music, pointing towards her partner.

"Sure," Thor nodded. "Who's my partner?"

"I got you, man," Sam said, pretended to stretch and prepare himself. He pointed towards Ella and Val. "You, ladies, are going down,"

"That's a whole lotta talk," Ella teased. "You sure you can back it up?"

"You hear that, Thor?" Sam said, rolling up his sleeves. "I hear a challenge,"

"We're gonna kick your ass," Val laughed. "Let's go show them how it's done, heavyweight!"

Val grabbed Ella and dragged her towards the table with Sam and Thor following.

Bucky watched as they set up their game. He still felt weird about Ella and was a bit let down. He did like her, but she was now a no-go zone. He couldn't do that to Steve.

He distracted himself by finishing his beer, grabbing another and talking with his friends. Peggy and Natasha came around with Wanda in tow, who they introduced to the others. Clint slung an arm around Nat's waist continuing to confuse their friends as to if they were dating or not. They stood around for a while as the party grew steadily louder. Bucky's attention was stolen when there was an especially loud roar from the crowd from behind. They all looked in the general direction and found that a small ring of people had formed around the beer-pong tables and had grown invested in the game.

Bucky looked towards Steve and they silently decided to see what the hype was about. Their group elbowed their way to the front of the small crowd and finally saw why everyone was getting so riled up. Ella and Val were destroying Thor and Sam.

Currently, Sam was lining up a shot, the tip of his tongue poking out from his lips, eyes narrowed in concentration. He threw the tiny ball, but missed his target. He cursed loudly and dragged a hand down his face.

Bucky watched as Ella picked up the tiny, white ball. She squinted her eyes for a heartbeat before making the shot. It landed in their cup and a raucous cheer erupted through the crowd. Ella and Val threw their arms in the air in victory, the latter bounding up and down happily and taunting her friends on the opposite side of the table. Thor picked up the plastic cup and tipped it back, crushing it in his hands once he had finished.

Ella had a huge smile on her face, clinking her cup against Val's as they chugged their drinks in victory. Bucky thought she looked even better when she was this carefree and maybe a bit bubbly from her booze, but he quickly reminded himself that he couldn't be thinking like that. Apparently, he hadn't been the only one thinking along those lines because there was soon a flock of guys surrounding the two girls who seemed impressed by their slaughter of the two football stars. Bucky reminded himself to forget about Ella in that manner and went back to chatting with his friends.

Ella and Val had acquired a small fan club after their win. They were chatting the girls up, but soon grew tired of talking. One of the guys, a tall, toned guy with silvery hair, was the first to take note of this.

"You want to dance?" he asked her.

Ella looked at him. He was cute and judging by his shirt, he was on the track team. She didn't seem the harm in it, especially since the only other guy she had considered turned out to be a no-go.

"Sure," Ella said. "But first you have to come with me to get a new drink,"

"Deal," he grinned. "I'm Pietro, by the way,"

"Ella," she introduced.

Together, they went to the drink table where they both refreshed. Ella asked him if he was actually on the track team, and he was. They made small talk until they returned back to the dancefloor.

Ella was having a blast. It felt good to relax and let go, sway to the beat of the bass with a cute guy.

From the other side of the room, Bucky found himself watching Ella again although he had told himself countless times to forget about it. She was dancing with some guy that Bucky didn't really know but may have seen before who had his hands on her hips. They were dancing close together, the girl had her hands thrown up in the air without care. She was a good dancer, a bit better than her partner who- oh, they were making out. That came out of fucking nowhere.

Bucky adverted his gaze as they locked lips, feeling like he was intruding.

Yeah, it was probably best if he didn't think about her for a while.

 **A/N:**

 **Hope you guys liked this chapter, wanted it to be fun.**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Ella woke up warm… almost too warm.

She was reluctant to open her eyes for a while, or maybe she couldn't. It felt as though there were weights tied to her eyelashes.

Ella tried to move, but found that she couldn't. She let out a groan of frustration and peeled open her eyes to figure out what the problem was.

Well, the problem was that there were three too many people in her full-sized bed.

Ella was in the middle of her mattress, Peggy was on her side with an arm thrown over Ella's stomach. Wanda was on her other side, curled op on the edge of her mattress. Nat was sprawled out horizontally on the foot on the bed, laying over all of their legs. All the girls were still wearing their clothes from the party, makeup smudged across their skin.

"Fuck," Ella moaned, dragging a hand down her face.

She had ended the night happily tipsy, but the rest of the girls were white-girl wasted by the time they left. Ella had managed to corral them back to their apartment, planning to all take off their makeup back in Ella's bathroom, but things didn't go according to plan and they all pretty much passed out the moment they got back.

Ella couldn't sit like this anymore. She kicked her legs, causing Nat to fall off the bed with a loud thump. Then, she threw Peggy's arm off her, and pushed both Wanda and Peggy off the bed.

"Fuck you," one of them mumbled. Ella wasn't entirely sure who.

Ella ignored them and grabbed a hoodie and running shorts out of her drawers, wasting no time before changing into them.

The other girls were hesitant to get off their spots on the ground. They were probably pretty hung over. Ella went into her bathroom and grabbed a bottle of aspirin before heading into the kitchen and grabbing three water bottles. She laid a bottle and two pills by each of the slumped girls.

"You're a saint," Wanda said, slowly sitting up and popping the pills into her mouth.

"How are you not in the same situation as us?" Peggy asked, making a face and sipping her water.

"I can hold my booze," answered, walking into her bathroom and cleaning the makeup off her face. She threw makeup remover wipes on her bed. "Here. It's good for you skin,"

The three girls slowly crawled to their feet and grabbed the package and passed it around. Ella grabbed her phone off the charger. She had lots of snapchat notifications. She opened her phone as she walked into the kitchen, seeing what was with all the buzz. She had added all of Steve's friends on snapchat, and they had all added her back. There were a few more who she didn't know who might have gotten hers from other people. She made appearances on at least five people's stories because of her beer pong win, which she laughed at. She was famous.

Ella looked at the people who had added her last night, trying to see if she recognized any names besides Steve's friends. For the most part, she didn't know any of them, but she did recognize one. Pietro, the guy she danced with.

 _Pietro Maximoff added you._

Maximoff…

"Oh, fuck," Ella groaned, mentally kicking herself. She had made out with Wanda's brother. Why did she have the worst luck with guys here? It had only been a week and she had messed up pretty badly twice. She would have to explain it to him later.

Ella put her phone down for now and started a pot of coffee. While that began to brew, she grabbed a gallon of milk from the fridge and a box of cereal for a quick breakfast.

She stood at the island, resting her elbows on the marble as she ate and sipped at her coffee. She scrolled through her Instagram and checked the rest of her social media as the rest of the girls lumbered out of the bedroom slowly and joined her in the kitchen. They all poured themselves some coffee and followed Ella with the cereal.

"I'm never drinking again," said Wanda, rubbing her temples.

"Bull," said Natasha, gulping down her coffee.

"Yeah, you'll be chugging wine by Tuesday," Peggy said, tying up her hair.

Wanda couldn't argue with that. It was definitely true.

There was little conversation for the rest of their bowls of cereal. Peggy and Natasha eventually left to their own apartment for a shower and maybe more sleep. Ella and Wanda also both went to bathe and freshen up a bit, hopefully to wash the sleep and grogginess off. The hot water felt like heaven on her skin.

Ella dried off, threw her damp hair into a ponytail, and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. She was planning on heading to the library to do some studying and homework before class tomorrow. She always worked best in the library, she was always more productive when she wasn't at home.

Ella shoved her books into her bag, grabbed a water bottles, told Wanda where she as going, and headed out.

It was a nice, quiet day. Most people were probably nursing pounding headaches from the comfort of their apartments. Ella briskly made her way through campus until she arrived to the library. It was a large building with weathered brick. She entered, face being blasted with cold air.

It seemed a lot of people shared her idea of spending the day at the library. It was packed, there wasn't an empty table to be seen. Ella scanned the area, looking for an empty seat. There was one in the back corner at a table where two guys sat surrounded by books. One was tapping away at an expensive laptop, the other focused on a calculator resting on the table.

Ella decided she would have to suck it up and make some more acquaintances. She marched herself over to the one empty spot.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" she asked.

The two men looked up. One of them was a smaller guy with curly hair and glassed, gave off a silent vibe. The other's body language was a bit more laid-back and open. He had a goatee and donned a graphic tee which looked remarkably cheap compared to the expensive watch on his wrist.

"Go ahead," the one with the glasses said, motioning towards the empty seat.

"Thanks," Ella said, grinning thankfully.

She sat down, sliding her bag off her shoulders and pulling out her books. The two men talked about the work they were doing, pointing at the laptop screen and using complex words that Ella barely understood. Ella could tell they were highly intelligent people. Still, she needed to focus on her work. She pulled out her textbook and began reading and taking notes on the chapters she needed done.

Ella read for half an hour before she became stumped on a problem from the book. It was statistics, and she had done it before, but it had been a while and she was rusty.

"You look like you're struggling," commented the one with the expensive watch, glancing up from his phone.

Ella cringed. "Yeah, a bit," she said. "Stats. I'm a bit rusty,"

"You need help?" the one with glasses asked. "I'm pretty good with that kind of stuff,"

"If it's not too much trouble. I don't want to distract you from assignments," Ella said.

"Oh, we're not working on an assignment," said the one with a goatee. "This is for fun,"

Ella's brows rose. "Oh,"

She couldn't imagine that people would be talking in such technical terms for fun, but to each their own. She wouldn't deny that she greatly needed help.

"I'm Bruce, by the way," the one with the glasses said, scooting his chair closer to where Ella sat. "And that's Tony,"

Ella shook Bruce's hand while Tony waved without looking up from his phone.

"Ella," she introduced.

With that, Tony looked up. "You wouldn't happen to be related to the tall, strong, strapping captain of our football team, would you?"

"You mean Steve? Yeah, he's my brother."

Bruce and Tony glanced at each other.

"Well, this worked out well," Tony said. "We're friends with Steve. We were supposed to meet you last night but we got extra time in the lab,"

"Oh," said Ella. "Well, it's nice to meet both of you,"

"He didn't tell me you were hot," said Tony.

Ella made a face at his boldness. "I don't think most people would mention that,"

"Leave her alone, Tony," Bruce scolded before turning back to Ella. "Where'd you get stuck?"

Ella pointed it out to Bruce and slid her calculator over to him. He squinted at the numbers for a few moments before his face brightened up.

"Oh, it's simple. You're just using the wrong Chi squared program in your calculator. You don't want to be using the goodness of fit, you need the independence test for this one," he explained.

Ella looked back at her work before it all clicked in her head. "Oh! I see,"

She turned the calculator back towards her and re-entered her numbers and she finally got the answers she was looking for.

"Thank you so much," Ella said, jotting down the answers in her notebook.

"It's no trouble," Bruce assured her.

For a while, they went back to working on their respective work. The two men still continued to speak in purely scientific terms which could have been Russian to Ella.

They sat there for another half an hour, every once and a while the two guys would make light chatter with Ella in an attempt to get to know her. Ella soon found out that Tony was very outspoken, a humor that at times border-lined egotistic, and Bruce was there to reel him in before Tony took it too far.

"Do you have any horribly embarrassing stories about your brother?" Tony asked.

"Do I ever," Ella laughed, but before she could continue, someone came up to their table.

"You guys got room?"

Ella looked to her left and saw Bucky standing there, bag slung over his shoulder and laptop tucked under his arm.

"Hey, what's up Barnes?" Tony greeted, slapping hands with him in a way that, to Ella, seemed engraved in the muscle memory of every male she had ever met.

Bucky looked down at Ella, again feeling a bit awkward when they made eye contact.

"Can I sit here?" he asked.

"Be my guest," Ella said, motioning towards the empty chair beside her.

Bucky took the seat, keeping a polite distance between himself and the girl. Ella focused on the notes as the guys talked for a bit, Bucky teasing the pair for not showing up to the party last night. Ella smiled to herself at the witty banter.

"Did she kick your ass at beer pong too?" Tony asked Bucky, pointing at Ella. "She's kinda famous now,"

Ella laughed and shook her head softly.

"Luckily, no," Bucky chuckled, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his stubble-covered chin. "Thor was upset all night. I don't think I could have handled that kind of painful loss."

"Maybe I would have gone easy on you," Ella said.

"Would you have?"

"No. I would have destroyed you,"

This led to a round of laughter around their study table.

Ella couldn't believe that she hadn't bothered to get to know any of Steve's friends before now. They were all fantastic. Funny, nice… Ella almost felt bad. She should have made more of an effort to meet them before now. She always visited Miss Sanchez during the holidays, which wasn't far away from here. She really could have met them at least once.

"Well, we're heading over to the lab," Tony said, packing up his laptop and his books.

"If you're going to make something blow up, put it on Snapchat," Bucky asked.

"I'll be sure to do that," Bruce said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder, which looked too heavy for the small man, but he managed.

"See you guys later," Bucky said.

"Nice to meet you," Ella smiled.

The two guys said goodbye and left the table, leaving Ella and Bucky alone.

They both felt a bit… awkward. They hadn't been alone together since they Ella had found out that Bucky was Steve's roommate and Bucky found out that Ella was Steve's brother and they abruptly terminated their short-term flirting fling.

"Those two are really smart," Ella said.

"Oh yeah," Bucky nodded. "Well, Tony is a Stark so he lives up to his dad's expectations,"

Ella blinked once and looked at Bucky with an incredulous expression. "Stark? As in Howard Stark? As in Stark Industries?"

"Yeah, that him,"

Ella's jaw dropped. How could he just drop that casually? Howard Stark was super famous, super smart, and super rich. He was up there with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg.

"Why the hell is he here?" Ella asked. "Shouldn't he be at Harvard or something?"

"Oh, he's, like, done with school," Bucky said. "Pretty sure he had a doctorate at like, nineteen. He's just taking classes for fun at this point. He likes to build shit in the lab with Banner,"

"Oh my god,"

Bucky laughed at her bewildered expression. It was kind of cute.

"I-I'm blown away right now," Ella said, shaking her head and hiding her face in her hands. "A fucking Stark… unbelievable. How the hell did Steve meet him?"

"It's a funny story, actually," Bucky said, leaning back. "We were in the court yard, right? Throwing around a frisbee and shit. Clint and Steve were having a competition to see who has the best aim, so they were throwing it at trees, trashcans and whatever. They were neck and neck, and Clint dared Steve to hit a moving target, which happened to be Tony-"

"And Steve can't back down from a dare," Ella added.

"Exactly," Bucky nodded. "So he aims, and he hits him right in the back of the head… and you know, it ends up being Howard Stark's fucking son. I don't know if Clint know that when he picked him, but I swear he did. We all thought he was gonna be super mad, but it was actually the start of a very unlikely friendship,"

"That's a beautiful story," Ella said.

"Truly is," Bucky laughed. "I swear your brother has no fears,"

"Which stresses me out to no extent," Ella said. "When we were kids he would do the dumbest stuff. Like, when he was thirteen, our neighbors had an electric fence for their dog, and our neighbors dared him to wear the collar and run past the barrier… he had this huge welt on his neck for about a week,"

Bucky threw his head back in laughter. "He never told me that one,"

"He's probably embarrassed, but I have a lot of worse stories," Ella said.

"Maybe you can tell me them, one day," Bucky said. "You know, for blackmail purposes,"

"I might consider that, but I'll have to keep the best ones for myself, or else I'll have no leverage,"

"Deal,"

Ok, so it seemed that they could manage to keep things casual between them. Just polite, not flirty. It was going well.

"Are you going to the game on Friday?" Bucky asked.

"What game?"

"Football," he stated as though it was obvious. "You know, the team that your brother is the captain of?"

"Never heard of the sport," Ella said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah, it's pretty new," Bucky says just as sarcastically. "But you should go,"

"Why? You wanna show off?"

"Always,"

"Well, I think I might," Ella said. "You made a very convincing argument."

"You gonna be the one cheering the loudest?"

"Of course… for Thor," she smirked. "I think I owe him one after what I did to him last night,"

"Probably," Bucky nodded. "So, I'll see you in the stands?"

"You will,"

 **a/n:**

 **Sorry about the wait, school has been crazy lately. Hope you like this chapter, though.**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

There was nothing special about the following week. It was simply classes and studying, a few quizzes and essays thrown in. Ella spent some time in the library, studying with Wanda or Nat or Peggy or Val, who didn't really study but came to hang around them. Every once and a while, one of the guys showed up too. It allowed Ella to get to know them better. She found that she got along with them all very well and they were entertaining to watch.

For example, Ella and the girls were invited to the house that Steve, Bucky, and Sam shared. It was small and run down, but enough for the three of them. It had a tiny backyard that they had tried to nicen up with a mix of cheap plastic chairs that didn't match and lights wrapped around the solitary tree that were from the dollar store and didn't work very well. What they lacked in decorative abilities, they made up with the copious amount of coolers they kept laying around. Each cooler was labeled with sharpie, informing the attendants of what was in there.

There was a huge group of them there that night. Ella, Steve, Nat, Wanda, Peggy, Bucky, Sam, Thor, Clint, Tony, Banner, Val, Vision (Who happened to be close friends with Tony and was part of the group as well, much to Wanda's pleasure), and Pietro, who managed his way into the group. (He and Ella had talked about the making out from the party. He was understanding about the misunderstanding. He hadn't known who she was. Ella even told Wanda about it, who simply shrugged it off. She told Ella that she wasn't the first of her friends that Pietro had made-out with. At least she was owning up to it and apologizing).

They had all come over for drinks. They sat in the little plastic chairs outside, chatting and laughing. Ella sat between Sam and Bucky, who kept her with a huge grin on her face all night. Their banter with one another amused her to no end.

For example, when Sam stood up to grab another beer.

"Hey, can you grab me one, man?" Bucky had asked.

"No," Sam said.

"Why?"

"Because I hate you,"

Ella had been surprised at first, thinking Sam was serious, but Steve noticed her expression.

"That's just how they bond," he explained. "They do like each other deep down,"

"Nope, I hate him back," Bucky declared, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ella snorted out a laugh at their childishness. Bucky met her eye with a smile.

Things had become less awkward between them. They still sat next to one another in class and talked and joked without any flirting. It was pleasant.

Sam eventually returned with two beers. Bucky had thought the second one was for him and reached for it, but Sam snatched it out of his grip.

"It ain't for you, dumbass," Sam snapped, face scrunched up in distaste, which softened up at Ella as he handed it to her. "It's for my favorite Rogers,"

Steve made a face. "What the fuck, man?"

Sam shrugged. "No offence man, you're pretty and everything, but she's prettier,"

Ella shook her head and laughed.

That had only been the first taste of the strange love/rivalry between Sam and Bucky. Not even ten minutes after the declaration of hate, Bucky tapped Ella's shoulder and motioned for her to move back a smidge. Ella's brows furrowed but she complied, watching as Bucky took an empty beer car and line it up with Sam's head, and toss it. It hit Sam's forehead with a dull _clang_.

"Ow," Sam said, more out of annoyance than actual pain.

Bucky leaned back and shrugged. "I was out of beer. You should have gotten me another,"

Sam stood up fast, knocking his chair over in his rush. Bucky seemed to know that Sam was coming for him and jumped up as well, dashing into the small, grassy area behind them. Sam tackled him and they began a semi-drunken wrestling match.

Ella covered her mouth as she laughed. Their whole group watched, but the females were paying extra attention. Why wouldn't they? It was two attractive guys fooling around and every once and a while their shirts would lift slightly and show a flash of abdomen.

Clint looked at Nat incredulously as she sat on his lap, watching the fight. "Could you be a bit more obvious?"

Nat shrugged. "What? It's entertaining,"

Clint shook his head at the girls, who all were watching with rapt attention.

"You know," Clint said, mostly addressing the guys sitting around them. "If it was two girls wrestling and we were all watching them like this, we would get called disgusting pigs,"

"Yeah, that's because the only time you'd be paying this much attention to girls wrestling was if they were in bikinis and covered in oil or something," Peggy pointed out.

Most of the guys nodded and shrugged, because it was pretty much true.

Over in the grass, Bucky had Sam caught in a headlock that he couldn't escape from.

"Fuck you, man," Sam groaned, struggling against the death-grip.

Bucky took this as a surrender and let his friend go. Sam caught his footing and made an obscene gesture before they sat back down on either side of Ella.

"You got that out of your systems?" Ella asked.

"Yup,"

"Uh huh,"

Ella handed Bucky the un-opened beer Sam had given her.

"Here," she said. "It looks like you need it more than me,"

Bucky accepted it gratefully. "Thanks,"

"Hey, Thor, give me your keys," Val said.

"Why?" Thor asked, digging in his pockets to comply to her request even if he didn't know what is was for.

"I'm gonna shotgun this beer," she explained, looking towards Ella. "Wanna join me?"

Ella shook her head. "I'm good. Don't want to have a hangover tomorrow. I have a quiz,"

Val didn't push the issue.

"I'll join," Pietro said, standing. "We'll make it a competition,"

Val couldn't stand down from a challenge. "Alright, everyone. Get your snapchats open because this is only gonna happen once,"

With that statement, phones were pulled out of pockets and trained on the two of them.

"Okay, ready?"

The two nodded, keys at the ready.

"Go!" Steve shouted.

The metal cans were pierced and the chugging began. They all cheered them on as they got the competition on their phones. It was very exciting.

They finished in what seemed to be a tie, crushing the cans in their hands simultaneously.

"I won!" Pietro declared.

"Fuck no!" Val said, making a face. "I did,"

"Neither of you did," Wanda said. "It was a tie,"

Neither of the competitors wanted to accept that notion, which led to the re-watching of the videos taken on all their phones. They must have watched the videos twenty times and still didn't reach a consensus. Eventually, Stark just told them to shut up and drink another beer.

Ella was amused to no end. She loved hanging around these people. They made her laugh and they were all just so nice. She loved it here.

"So you're for sure coming to the game?" Bucky asked Ella.

Ella nodded. "Yup. Us non-footballers are tailgating before,"

"Damn, without us?" Bucky said.

Ella raised a brow. "Do you want to play buzzed?"

Bucky hesitated for a moment as he thought, but eventually shook his head. "No, I guess not,"

Ella laughed. "I think it took you too long to answer," she smiled. "Are you going to score?"

"Yeah,"

"Bet I'm gonna score before you," Sam taunted.

Bucky rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer. "No you won't,"

"Score one for me, okay?" Ella said.

"I will," said Sam and Bucky at the same time, both thinking Ella was talking to them. They narrowed their eyes at one another.

" _I'll_ do it," Sam said confidently.

Bucky shook his head. "Listen, when _I_ score the first touchdown, I'll point right at you,"

Ella felt her face flush slightly. That statement was borderline flirtatious. At least the lighting was bad outside so no one could actually see the sudden color that came to her cheeks.

"Well, I guess we'll see on Friday,"

…

A couple more days passed by and it was time for the tailgate. All of the non-footballers split up what was needed, from tables to cups to booze. It was all very organized for a handful of college students who were planning on getting plastered.

A few hours before the game started, Ella, Val, Wanda, Nat, Peggy, Pietro, Stark, Banner, and Vision met up in the parking lot and set up. Ella had borrowed a EBU t-shirt from Nat because she didn't have one until now. Nat told her that Ella could keep it because she stole all of Clint's shirts anyway.

They set up a table in the parking lot and filled up the coolers with ice and drinks. Val had set up a beerpong table and this time wanted to play against Ella. (It ended up being a pretty tight match but in the end, Val came up on top and Ella accepted defeat gracefully).

It was a nice day. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining brightly. It was warm enough for shorts, which all the girls donned, gaining plenty of stares from guys as they passed by. Ella took a picture with all of the girls that she would post on Instagram later that night. They all looked happy, beaming in the sunlight with cups raised in cheers for their team.

"Is it weird I haven't watched Steve play in like, eight years?" Ella asked, sitting beside Peggy on the hood of her car.

"It's been that long?" Peggy raised a brow, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah. He played in high school and I used to watch him, but then he went into the army and we went to different schools…"

"He's like… really good," Peggy told her. "They're all really good. They play together so well. It's the best season our school has ever had,"

"And the team we're playing today?" Ella asked, adjusting her sunglasses.

"They're okay," Peggy told them. "They beat us last year but they lost some of their better players and I think we got it today… speaking of which, I think it's time we go if we want the best spots in the student section,"

So, they all packed up their stuff and headed into the arena. They shoved their way past others to get into the student section, all pressing up in a line against the railing right behind the end-zone.

The wait was short as the band set up in the stands and began blasting music to pump up the crowd for the game. The stands began to fill up with other spectators as the start neared closer, and before Ella knew it, the guest team rushed onto the field. The cheers for them were not very heartfelt, and some of the bad sports booed, but Ella simply remained silent.

When the home team was announced, the stadium exploded with booming cheers. They ran out onto the green field, donned in their red, white, and blue uniforms. The line was headed by Steve, who dashed out first with Bucky and Sam at his heels. Ella cupped her hands to her mouth and let out a loud cheer for her brother and new friends.

Thor, who had yet to place on his helmet, quickly looked over to where they stood and pointed at them with a huge smile on his face, making their group cheer even louder.

Noisemakers and pompoms were passed around as they waited for the game to begin.

Football hadn't been a big event at her old school, they hadn't been very good at it, but at EBU, it was an event. Half the school showed up for support and were making a sea of red, white, and blue in the stands.

At long last, the game started. The opposing team kicked the ball for their team to catch. Ella knew there were technical terms for the game play, but she didn't know them. All she knew was that they had to get the ball to the endzone, which was what she was cheering for. She was lucky that she stood next to Pietro, who knew football well enough, and could explain things to her, like what a first down was and why that was a flag.

"If they don't get a third down now, then the ball goes to the other team," Pietro explained.

Ella nodded wordlessly and watching the field. The teams were lining up against one another. Someone was shouting something but it sounded like gibberish to Ella. Then, the teams sprung into action and the play started. Ella wasn't sure where to look. There was so much happening at once, Ella could hardly tell who was who or where the ball was. Suddenly, Ella saw Steve wind back and throw the ball. It flew through the air in a perfect arch into the awaiting hands of Bucky, who had no defenders on him.

The crowd burst into a loud cheer as he took off down the field. His path was completely empty, especially with Thor full-body tackling the only guy who got close to grabbing Bucky. Ella couldn't help my cringe at the sound of Thor hitting the opposing team member. It sounded like it hurt.

The closer Bucky got to the endzone, the louder the crowd began to cheer louder until it was nearly deafening. The people in the student section began bouncing up and down, shaking pompoms and hitting noise makers as he neared the line. Finally, he made it into the endzone. The crowd reached a crescendo as the refs blew their whistles and signaled a touchdown. Some of Bucky's teammates rushed up beside him, slapping him on his back or jumping onto his shoulders as they all celebrated.

Ella felt herself grinning widely as she absorbed the euphoria of the crowd around her. She cheered loudly with a huge smile painted on her face as Bucky turned towards the crowd. He paused for a moment, as if he was looking for something, before he found Ella and pointed at her.

Ella laughed and shook her head softly, remembering his promise last night that he would score the first touchdown and point at her. Sam came up beside him and smacked the back of his helmet, probably a bit pissed that he wasn't the one to score first.

"What the hell is he pointing at?" Val asked over the roar of the crowd.

Ella simply shrugged and blushed.

He sure was something.

…

Their team ended up slaughtering the visitors. It wasn't really close, but that didn't mean it wasn't exciting. There were some amazing plays that kept the crowd riled up the entire time. Ella's voice was hoarse from cheering by the time the close counted down to zero.

When the game came to an official end, the team on the field celebrated by jumping on each other's back, slapping butts, and hitting their helmets against one another's. When the student section had quieted down a bit, Stark called their group's attention to himself.

"Celebratory drinks on me!" he stated proudly.

This brought on another, possibly even louder, wave of cheers from everyone.

"That was fun!" Wanda said as they waded through the sea of people towards the exit. Her face was aglow with joy, cheeks dusted pink. "We don't have anything like that at home,"

Pietro nodded in agreement. "We were really missing out,"

"Yeah, it was a good game too," Ella said. "Steve's gotten a lot better since the last time I watched him play,"

"I can't wait to get drunk off of Stark's money," Val said.

"Do you even get drunk?" Ella asked. "You drink all the time and yet, I don't think you ever get wasted."

"I'm a big girl," Val said. "I know how to hold my liqueur."

Ella laughed softly and shook her head.

Their group headed towards a bar that Stark was fond of. He was paying so he got to pick. The non-footballers would get there first and allow the team to shower and get the sweat off their bodies before hanging out with any of them. They didn't want to stink up the whole bar.

Stark walked through the doors like he owned the place and instantly demanded a round of shots to get everyone warmed up.

Ella tipped the glass handed to her back, even though she didn't really enjoy the taste, but whatever. Shots were the best way to get wasted fast.

They were only there for about thirty minutes before the doors opened and their friends spilled in, causing cheers of victory to fill the bar. The boys relished in the attention and praise, hamming it up. Thor bowed, Sam blew kisses. It was all very dramatic.

Ella hugged her brother and congratulated him, gushing on about how much better he was. She was happy that he had taken a shower before coming her, or else she wouldn't be so friendly.

Ella moved down the line of players, hugging and complimenting, until she reached Bucky. The girl hesitated for a moment as she stood in front of him, his hands shoved into his jean pockets and he looked at her with a small smile.

"I told you I'd get the first touchdown," he said with a hint of smugness.

"I never doubted you," she grinned, closing the distance between them and giving him a quick, firm hug, which he returned with his arms around her waist.

Ella expected his to let go when she leaned back slightly, but he didn't, so Ella left her arms where they were.

"Let me buy you a drink," he said.

Ella chuckled. "Stark is buying all the drinks,"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Then let me pick one out for you. It's the principle that counts,"

Ella shrugged. "Fair enough,"

They walked over to the bar side by said. As they waited for the bartender's attention, Ella leaned her forearms on the bar, looking to her left and meeting Bucky's eye, who was studying her intensely.

"What?" Ella asked.

"Just trying to figure out what kind of drink you'd like," Bucky said pensively. "Whiskey?"

"I do like a good whiskey," Ella affirmed.

Bucky ordered her the drink, getting the same for himself. As they waited, Ella glanced around the crowded bar. They filled up the entire place. She couldn't stop herself from smiling as she watched them all interact, feeling thankful that she had been welcomed so warmly into the group. It was the first time they had all been in the same place together. She felt as though they were all going to become very good friends.

The bartender placed to glasses before Bucky and Ella. They each picked up their respective drinks and held them up.

"What do we toast to?" Bucky asked.

Ella thought for a moment before a smile grew on her face. "To new friends,"

Bucky grinned as he clinked his glass against hers. "To new friends,"

 **a/n:**

 **this chapter had been nearly done for weeks and idk why it took so long to write the last few paragraphs. Enjoy tho!**

 **Don't forget to review!**


End file.
